Multiple Sclerosis Building a New Brain

Disease Modifying Nutriment (DMN)

First thought

To build a new brain, we have to take advantage of the inherit regeneration and renewal (RnR) process we all have within our bodies.  Every cell in the human body regenerates and renewals every 5-7 years.  The central nervous system (CNS) goes through the RnR process every six weeks.  So, every six weeks every cell in the central nervous system is new.  But, are we guaranteed that the new cell has been generated in to a healthier cell than the one before?  Unfortunately not.  With diseased tissue, unless we are making improvements to the factors that support the RnR process, like nutriment to feed the cell structure and to help build a better cell than the one before, each time a cell regenerates if the framework has not been modified then the new cell will remain diseased.

Building the Brain: Phase 2

So for this case, to get optimal nutriment to the central nervous system for superior cell RnR every 6 weeks we needed to ensure the digestive system was able to breakdown and absorb the macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats, and proteins) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals).  Food intolerances, allergies, and problems such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) may already suggest there are existing issues with the digestive system, and therefore the breakdown and absorption of nutrients is most likely compromised.  If such issues are present, then the first three months of the ‘brain-building nutriment programme’ needs to commence with healing the gut.

Important fact to remember: Many studies exploring the cause of multiple sclerosis have identified issues with the gut are common findings (see further reading list later in this blog).

Healing the gut: Phase 1

So how did we heal the gut?  There are a tonne of different programmes making claims on improving health.  I took the science and applied it to a nutriment programme.

The Science

Each cell of the gut regenerates and renews itself every 5 days.  This suggests during these five days minute-by-minute our choices define what the new cell will look like when it has been replaced, let’s call this the gut cell blueprint.  Evidence supports the premise that what we think, what we do, and what we eat will shape the cells future – so you could say our health is strongly defined by our daily choices.

My wife had multiple food intolerances which suggests the gut is not in good health.  NB: If there are intolerances the gut mechanisms are out of balance.  Unless you want specifics about the content of a patients poo, I do not see the point in having a stool sample test to inform me the gut is in poor health – it’s already displaying signs that this is the case.

I wrote six weeks five-day food plans (the full book with recipes and meal plans to be published in 2020).  The premise of the food plan was to ensure specific foods were slowly introduced giving multiple gains on various mechanism (details below).  Potentially, this would enable each specific building-block for the gut and the brain (nutrient) to be broken down, fully absorbed, and utilised by the body.  Each 5-day plan followed the following guidelines;

1. Give the gut a rest; feed it high nutrient content food that is easily digested. A great way to start is with Broth.  Broth is a soothing food packed full of easy to absorb and distribute minerals, vitamins, and amino-acids – the very building blocks to improving the gut, whilst aiding digestion due to the natural gelatin that attracts digestive juices.
2. Avoid inflaming the digestive system; avoid all foods that cause discomfort i.e. intolerances.  All sources of disaccharide containing foods were (and remain) eliminated from the food plans.  Most sugars and all grains, even those not containing gluten, a compromised gut wall would struggle to digest. Undigested food in any form provides the perfect environment for pathogenic viruses, bacteria, and fungi to thrive.
3. Rehabilitate the gut wall; support cell regeneration and renewal to reduce/stop the flood of toxins from pathogenic strains dominating the gut environment into the bloodstream causing chaos of autoimmune symptoms.
4. Rebalance probiotics in the micro-biome; science has shown that 80% of the human immune system is housed in the gut and an imbalance of healthy probiotics and harmful pathogenic bacteria is linked to most chronic diseases today. Initially pharmaceutical grade probiotics. 
5. Keep it fresh and organic; avoid any potential toxins and harmful bacteria. Avoid processed foods.
6. Remylination.  Once the inflammation caused by the immune attack is over, it is possible for the body to replace damaged myelin.  Cell regeneration and replacement is now optimised because the gut can absorb the nutrients from foods.
7. Neurogenesis. Cell regeneration and replacement is now optimised because the gut can absorb the nutrients from foods.

For three months, weekly nutritional programmes are required.  Start simple: Week 1 bone broth (or veggie broth), boiled vegetables (need to be pulpy! This reduces the hard work the gut needs to do to break down the vegetables – if the gut is not working to full capacity then asking it to break down high fibre food will be another challenge it will fail at), and steamed/boiled fish and/or meat.

No supplementation was administered during this 6-week phase.

Here’s an example of the first 5-days:

(Excerpt from Healing A Diseased Body with Nutriment Book, Jo Abbott) 

January 2017, I presented my wife with the conclusion of a six month Literature review I had been completed on the possible relationship between MS and Gut health (nutriment) within the EBM literature.  I must make this clear: we did not with-hold any DMD’s from my wife – no decision on treatment had been made at this point in time. My proposal was to complete a controlled trial using diet as the intervention for three months.  At the end of the three months we would request an earlier appointment (and pay privately) to repeat the exact parameters for the per annum high contrast MRI’s helping us identify if the situation was: better? worse? or no change?  We had nothing to loose.

Further Reading

Gut–CNS-Axis as Possibility to Modulate Inflammatory Disease Activity—Implications for Multiple Sclerosis. Ann-Katrin Fleck, Detlef Schuppan, Heinz Wiendl, Luisa Klotz (2017)

Review The Gut Microbiome Feelings of the Brain: A Perspective for Non-Microbiologists. Aaron Lerner1, Sandra Neidhöfer, Torsten Matthias (2017).

The role of gut microbiota in immune homeostasis and autoimmunity.  Hsin-Jung Wuab & Eric Wua (2012).

Principles of Neural Science. Eric Kandel, James H. Schwartz, and Thomas Jessell (1996)